a/n: Finally got this one done! And what a chapter to get done! You'll see what I mean when you reach the end!
Chapter 6: Turnabout Uprising
A blue warship soared through the skies above Cybertron.
"Looks like rain," Captain Blockus remarked, "Sigma, keep an optic on the weather. I don't want to be caught out in a thunderstorm."
"Acknowledged," the ship, Sigma Supreme, replied.
Blockus sipped his Energon.
"Hey, your head feeling okay?" he questioned.
"The pain has faded," Sigma replied, "It should not be an issue with this patrol."
"That's good to hear," Blockus remarked as he reclined in the captain's seat, "Don't worry big guy, this'll all pass over soon."
He was answered by the entire ship shaking as the lights flickered out.
"Sigma?" Blockus questioned as the nose of the ship began to dip down towards the planet, "Oi! Big guy! This isn't the time for a nap!"
Sigma Supreme remained silent as his corpse plummeted through the atmosphere, smoke billowing out of the hole where his head had been stored.
All throughout Cybertron, the burning corpses of dozens of giants rained down from on high, the once-mighty defenders reduced to oversized coffins for their skeleton crews.
"I need to get to the courthouse, now!" Transmutate stated as they stepped out of their apartment.
"You're still not explaining anything!" Rampage complained as he followed them out, "What the Pit is going on?"
"There's no time to explain, and I'm not about to say it where just anyone could overhear!" Transmutate replied as they whirled around, unaware of the red dot on the back of their head, "I'll explain everything once I'm-" Rampage spotted a red light from an open window across the street.
"GET DOWN!" Rampage shouted as he tackled Transmutate to the ground.
CRACK!
A blast of plasma shot through the air Transmutate's head had been occupying a nanosecond prior, melting a patch of metal on the ground.
The comm-link clattered across the ground.
"That was close…" Rampage sighed, as Transmutate noticed a red dot move over the comm-link, "Why did-"
"Get off!" Transmutate shouted as they yanked the comm-link back.
CRACK!
The patch of ground it had been sitting on melted.
"They must've detected it's signal!" Transmutate stated as they stashed the comm-link away safely and folded into motorcycle mode, "My PSF isn't unlocked, I'm going to need you to watch my back!"
Rampage growled as he mounted Transmutate's alt-mode, grunting as another sniper blast singed his shoulder.
"If we die, I'm coming back from the dead and resurrecting you just so I can kill you myself," he warned as Transmutate sped off down the street.
"Target is mobile, heading due north towards delta team," the sniper warned, "Maintaining cover is secondary to eliminating the contraband. Anyone who reads the contents of the device is to self-terminate immediately. Smeltdown out."
He growled as he turned to the occupants of the apartment he had commandeered.
"Nothing personal," Smeltdown stated as he deployed his guns and flamethrower, "You all just saw too much."
FWOOM!
"Jhiaxus, I know you're new to this," Dai Atlas opened, "But it's hardly appropriate to check your comm-link in the courtroom."
Jhiaxus grumbled and set his comm-link to standby as he took his seat.
"That's quite enough, all of you," Nominus Prime replied, "Today, we're going to be presiding over the case of the Planet of Cybertron v Megatron. He has been accused of murder, terrorism, and treason against the High Council. Are you ready to begin?"
"The Prosecution is ready," Adjudicus replied.
Xaaron scanned the courtroom as Vibes stood next to him. He and Adjudicus were stationed at desks on a platform in the middle of the room, while Megatron was restrained in a seat towards the back. The room was surrounded by a gallery of seats placed above and around the courtroom, with Nominus Prime sitting at the "head" of the room and surrounded by the twelve councilors.
Momus, Afluous, Contrail, Levitacus, Drivetrain, and Highbrow were seated to Nominus' left. Soundblaster, Heretech, Halogen, Avalon, Dai Atlas, and Jhiaxus were seated to his right.
"The Defense is ready," Xaaron stated.
"Then court is now in session!" Nominus announced, "Adjudicus, if you would kindly deliver the opening statements?"
Adjudicus smirked.
"Well, it's like you said," the Prosecutor opened, "This terrorist hired an assassin to kill his critics and political opponents, sent one of his followers to self-destruct and kill his former friend in an act of spite, and has been conspiring against the High Council since the day we so graciously welcomed him onto our glorious planet! He ought to be smelted to death before he destroys Cybertron itself!"
"Objection!" Xaaron cut in, "Prosecution knows quite well this isn't the appropriate point to be recommending sentences."
"Overruled," Nominus deadpanned.
"The Prosecution calls the first witness to the stand!" Adjudicus opened, "State your name and occupation!"
The center of the floor opened up as the witness stand rose out of the floor, the witness herself standing behind it.
"Name's Swoop," the witness, an Autobot, replied, "I'm a private security guard."
"Can you tell us what you saw?" Adjudicus asked.
"I was patrolling the rafters above the party," Swoop opened, "Me and the other Dynobots were hired as security, so I was keeping an eye out for suspicious characters. When I noticed the Decepticon standing on the wrong side of the safety rails, I thought something suspicious was up. Unfortunately, by the time I had noticed, he had already jumped."
"Hang on Xaaron," Vibes whispered, "Something about what Swoop said isn't lining up."
"How so?"
"Think about it," Vibes continued, "What did our investigation uncover?"
"Oh… Right," Xaaron turned his attention to Swoop, "So, are you saying the bomber was the only one in the rafters?"
"N-no…" Swoop replied, "But he was the only shifty character."
"How can you be so certain?" Xaaron questioned, "Anyone who was in the rafters at the time could have valuable information, or possibly be an accomplice. As a security officer, even a private one, you have a duty to reveal all important information, especially in a court of law."
"Objection!" Adjudicus cut in, "Lord Nominus, this is completely pointless."
"Objection!" Xaaron refuted, "Great Prime, please consider, if that other bot was an accomplice…"
Nominus chuckled.
"Well, we won't be getting anymore useful information out of this witness," the Prime remarked, "Who's next?"
G'nur sat back and watched as Thunderwing took the cube-shaped key up to the Underbase's lock, with it's circular keyhole.
"What the Pit?" Thunderwing grumbled as he inspected the key. He taped one of the sides, and a dial popped up. The Functionist Seeker grabbed the dial and twisted it clockwise, causing the key to shift and warp into a conical shape, "Okay…"
Thunderwing inserted the key into the lock, and the doors to the Underbase twisted and contorted into a vortex, which fizzled out to reveal a distorted space.
Ramps and stairways twisted through the air to connect to various planes.
Spheres, cubes, and pyramids containing various archives filled the space, some floating between the platforms, others placed on the platforms at strange angles.
One of the Seekers roughly shoved G'nur over the threshold.
"You two, stay here and don't let anyone remove that key," Thunderwing ordered, "I don't want to get trapped in that place."
G'nur chuckled under her breath.
Oh, I almost feel bad for these exhaust pipes, she thought.
"Kill those exhaust pipes!" someone shouted as various blasts of molten metal and burning plasma shot around Transmutate and Rampage, the people on the streets shifting dodging out of the way.
"Why not just download the contents of the comm-link and dump it for them to destroy?" Rampage hissed under his ventilation.
"Because then it won't be acceptable evidence!" Transmutate replied, "We need to get this to the Courthouse in Inner Iacon, or else the mastermind behind the massacre will get away with it!"
Sparks exploded off to the left.
"… I don't suppose you've got any ideas, do you?" Transmutate questioned.
"What makes you think I-"
BANG!
A Plasma Blast shattered against Rampage's Projected Spark Field as more armed bots blocked the street ahead.
"Scrap!" Transmutate cursed, "We can't get through!"
Rampage smirked.
"Accelerate."
"EXCUSE ME?!"
"JUST DO IT!"
Transmutate yelped and complied, zipping forwards while swerving around the blasts that melted the street behind them.
Rampage chuckled and held out an arm latching onto one of their assailant's arms as Transmutate zipped between two of them.
SCRHEAUGHK!
The hand continued to hold that particularly attacker's gun even after the arm was torn from it's socket, allowing Rampage to pry the gun out of its fingers before tossing the useless limb aside and pointing the firearm behind him.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
"Way to scare them off!" Transmutate cheered.
"Yeah…" Rampage remarked as he turned away from the falling bodies, each one with a hole burned through their laser core, "Scared…"
"… Welp! As long as they can't kill us later!"
BANG!
Transmutate yelped and swerved out of the way of a splash of molten metal as Rampage fired a shot in the general direction of that sniper.
"Hang on tight, I'm going to try and lose them!"
Smeltdown snarled as his quarry sped further along.
"How the Pit can a fragging animal aim that well?"
The testimony of the only other bot who had been in the rafters at the time, Hauler, hadn't revealed anything new, and the trial continued as Xaaron cross examined witness after witness.
"You're doing great, sir!" Vibe assured Xaaron as he collected his nerves.
"The Prosecution calls the next witness to the stand!" Adjudicus announced.
The Protoform was awkwardly shoved to the witness stand, nervously eying everyone around her as the light shown down on her platform.
"State your name and occupation!"
"M-my name is Gauge," the Protoform answered as she shrank in on herself, "I'm… I'm a student in Primary Programming."
"Poor thing looks like she's on the verge of a stress-induced system failure," Vibes remarked.
"I'm going to feel like a monster after this," Xaaron sighed.
"Now then," Adjudicus opened as Nominus and Jhiaxus chuckled, "Tells us what happened the night you were attacked."
Gauge closed her optics and took a second to steady her ventilation.
"Arcee and I were watching the debate on the network conduit," Gauge opened, "Someone knocked on the door, and Arcee left to investigate. Then, BOOM! The door was blown open and Arcee told me to run! Some weird bot with a hook hand showed up and replaced his hook with a ball with Energon spikes! Arcee kept him from attacking me, but I couldn't get the window open or break through it. Then he turned his other hand into a canon and… And…" Gauge took another second to steady her ventilation. "He pointed it at me, and there was a flash, a loud noise, and everything hurt! Even after I woke up in the hospital!"
Silence fell as Gauge recollected herself.
"How the Pit is this relevant to the case?" Vibes questioned Xaaron.
"Isn't it obvious?" Xaaron replied, "It's a purely emotional appeal to try and make the Autobot Councilors hate Megatron more than they already do."
"Despicable."
Hopefully, I can turn this around on them, Xaaron thought as he glanced over at Gauge and reflected on her testimony, Wait a second…
"Could you describe those weapons again?" Xaaron asked.
"Objection!" Adjudicus shouted, "Are you seriously cruel enough to force this poor, innocent protoform to relive such a traumatic experience?"
"Objection!" Xaaron cut in, "Your honor, I just need to double check something!"
Nominus glanced over at Gauge, who was still trying to steady her ventilation.
"Proceed," the Prime stated with a chuckle.
"He had two weapons that I saw," Gauge repeated, "A canon and a ball with Energon spikes."
"I fail to see how this is relevant," Adjudicus stated. Xaaron chuckled.
"Vibes, would you kindly bring up the evidence from Lockdown's arrest?" he requested.
Vibes pressed a few keys and projected a screen.
"As you can see here, Lockdown possessed a wide array of weapons prior to his arrest," Xaaron explained, "But if you check the autopsy reports… Gauge you may want to look away."
The Protoform squeaked and averted her optics, and the screen flicked over to the autopsy reports.
"For each of his confirmed kills, Lockdown exclusively used his Fusion Cannon and Energon Mace," Xaaron continued, "Now, this might not be strange, but if you look at footage of Megatron back in the Pits of Kaon…"
The projection flickered over.
"He uses a Fusion Cannon, with a melee weapon similar to yet distinct from the weapon Lockdown used," Xaaron stated, "Now, if we're working with the assumption that my client went through all that trouble to hire a contract killer, why would he have said contract killer exclusively use weapons similar to his own in a city he was currently touring? And if he wasn't afraid of getting arrested, why would my client not take credit for it? It's almost as if someone was hoping Megatron would get blamed for the murders."
"Are you going somewhere with this?" Adjudicus asked.
"Indeed," Xaaron replied, "I believe that the same person who was hoping to frame Megatron for Lockdown's murders, also had the Tailgate Bomber loudly and blatantly profess loyalty to Megatron before self-destructing. The evidence is clear, my client has been framed!"
The courtroom erupted into chaos as the Autobot councilors murmured and the Functionist councilors loudly objected.
"Order! Order!" Nominus shouted, before shooting a glare at Adjudicus.
The Prosecutor chuckled and averted his optics as he sank into his seat.
"Nice, Xaaron," Vibes complimented, "I don't think they were expecting the Protoform to blow such a massive hole in their case!"
"It's not over yet," Xaaron replied as he noticed Jhiaxus quietly glaring at him, "Even if we get all the Autobots on our side, we still gotta convince at least one Functionist of our client's innocence. This battle is far from other."
G'nur hummed to herself as the security officers sent her ahead down the corridor, keeping their guns trained on her.
Two of the Functionist security officers sank into the floor, screaming all the while, when they crossed the threshold to follow her.
The rest stepped around the spot they sank into and went on their way.
A security officer screamed as gravity stopped working and he fell upwards through a hole in the ceiling into a distant chamber.
Gravity split the group in two, half landing on the left-side wall, the other half landing on the right.
"You lot okay?" G'nur shouted from the ceiling, where she stood upside down, "I totally understand if you need a break to ventilate!"
"She's mocking us…" Thunderwing growled from the leftmost wall as the half opposite him groaned and collected themselves.
Eventually, the anomalies separated Thunderwing from the rest of his group, leaving him stumbling through the darkness.
"Just my luck," the Functionist Seeker growled, "That damned degenerate was supposed to trip up any traps so the rest of us would be safe, but now I'm on my own in some alien dimension!" He sighed. "Should've brought more death row inmates."
"Thunderwing…"
"Hmm?"
He rounded the corner to try and find the source of the whisper, and found a strange blade with a purple gem in its hilt sheathed in a metallic pillar.
"The Pit are you?" he asked.
"You have answered my call," a voice stated, "Yes… You are worthy of the blessings I offer."
"What are you talking about?"
"Place your hand on the gemstone," the voice instructed, "I shall grant you the light of the gods to destroy your enemies."
"How do I know this isn't some trick?"
"Come now, Thunderwing, what do you have to lose at this point?" the voice asked, "You're trapped here with no escape. I can fix that. I can let you out. I can help you punish that 'degenerate' who trapped you here."
Thunderwing looked over his options. Realizing his only other choice was stumbling blindly through the Underbase, he crossed the threshold into the room the sword was in, and placed his right hand on the gemstone in its hilt.
"Good…" the voice remarked, before yanking Thunderwing's hand into the gem, "Now! Just as I promised!"
Thunderwing screamed as his Projected Spark Field flared to life, howling winds and screaming voices echoing throughout the Underbase.
Finally, the gemstone shattered, sending Thunderwing flying back, shadows surging out of where the gem had once been to squirm into every opening on the Functionist's body.
Then, the Seeker went inert, laying motionless on the floor.
"Take this power… And turn all into one!"
Thunderwing's optics shot open, flooding the room with silver light.
Rampage grimaced as he and Transmutate approached the Inner City.
"This is where you get off," Transmutate stated, "I can enter no problem, but if you tried…"
Rampage sighed.
"Damned Functionists…"
Transmutate applied the brakes and slid up to the gate, allowing Razorclaw to dismount as they unfolded into robot mode.
"Thanks for everything, I'll see you later," they stated as they gave Rampage a hug, "I'll see you later."
"Be careful," Rampage advised, before turning away.
BANG!
Transmutate's shriek stopped Rampage in his tracks.
He whirled around to see the two guards stationed at the gate step up to Transmutate, who as laying on the ground and reaching for the CommLink as smoke rose from her side, as an unfamiliar Functionist who appeared to have some furnace components stepped up to the downed bikebot.
"So you thought you could upset the natural order?" he taunted as he knelt down by Transmutate's head, "I don't know who you think you are, but we're lucky I just so happened to be doing the rounds when my boss gave the alert."
"What should we do, sir?"
The leader chuckled as he flipped on a flamethrower, turning down the intensity until it was but a mere blowtorch.
"Let's melt 'em down for parts," he suggested as he brought the blowtorch closer and closer to Transmutate's face.
Rampage growled and clenched his fists.
"HEY!" he shouted, before folding into Beast Mode and bounding past the Functionist's and into Inner Iacon.
"STOP THAT ANIMAL!" the leader shouted as his two subordinates folded into vehicle mode to give chase to Rampage, "SMELTDOWN TO ALL UNITS! AN ANIMAL HAS ILLEGALLY ENTERED INNER IACON! IT'S ONE OF THE PREDS! CAPTURING OR KILLING IT IS TO BE YOUR TOP PRIORITY! NOTHING ELSE MATTERS UNTIL IT'S PAID FOR DEFILING OUR GREAT CITY!"
.
Transmutate groaned and pushed themselves off the ground as Smeltdown folded into vehicle mode and gave chase, leaving them alone with the commlink.
"Gotta get to the courthouse," Transmutate muttered as they picked up the commlink and folded back into vehicle mode, "Gotta put a stop to this!"
They hurried down the street making a b-line for the courthouse.
They didn't have time to appreciate the meteor shower that filled the sky.
Xaaron rested his head in his hands. Of the six Autobot Councilors, he was only certain that he had convinced Dai Atlas, Momus, and Levitacus. The other three Autobots were still skeptical, and all six Functionists were uncaring.
"Very well," Nominus Prime declared, "I believe the time has come for the High Council to vote on a verdict. Then we shall commence with the sentencing."
"H-Hold on!" Xaaron cut in, "If we could just look at the evidence-"
"We already have!" Nominus interrupted, "Let's proceed to the verdict and sentencing so we can all put this unpleasantness behind us!"
"So, that's it then?" Vibes questioned.
"It would take a miracle to win now," Xaaron replied, "Even if we convinced all six Autobots, Nominus gets the tie-breaking vote, and he's wanted to smelt Megatron for parts since he first arrived on Cybertron. He'd vote 'Guilty' no matter what."
"But…"
"Silence!" Nominus shouted, "The High Council shall now vote on the ver-"
"WAIT!"
Nominus growled and shot a glance over at the defense.
"Xaaron, if you do not shut your assistant up, I will have you both sentenced to Empurata!" he shouted.
"That erm… Wasn't us…" Xaaron weakly replied.
"Then who dares to-"
"I have evidence!" the newcomer, Transmutate answered, "A piece of debris that got lodged in my chassis and was missed by the investigators!" They calmly approached the center of the room. "Before you go through with the sentencing, I would like to present both my testimony and this last piece of evidence."
"This is absurd!" Nominus replied, "Why should I let you interfere in the proceedings?"
"Great Nominus," Adjudicus interjected, "This trial is being broadcasted live to all of Cybertron." He chuckled. "Besides, it's not like anything can change the facts. What is this evidence you want to present?"
Transmutate smirked and crossed their arms.
"The suicide bomber's comm-link," Transmutate answered, "It has all of the bomber's contacts, including the bot he was taking orders from. We could use this to track his handler's comm-link, and prove once and for all whether Megatron was really behind the bombing!"
The High Council muttered amongst themselves as Jhiaxus slowly reached for his own comm-link.
Dai Atlas grabbed his arm and held it in place.
"Now, now friend," Dai Atlas said with a far too friendly grin, "I don't think you have anything to worry about." He chuckled. "After all, if what you've been saying is true, then Megatron's comm-link would be the one to go off, right?"
Jhiaxus chuckled, but didn't reply.
"Great Nominus, my client's comm-link was never confiscated!" Xaaron stated, "It was disabled, but it would be simple to re-enable it and see if it responds."
"Objection!" Adjudicus shouted, "We still only have this Autobot's word that this is the bomber's comm-link! We'll need to have it checked first!"
"If you check the messages, you'll see that the messages planning the attack, here referred to as 'plan beta' were never actually erased," Transmutate explained as they projected the contents of the comm-link to the courtroom, "As you can see, whoever had this 'Torque' self-destruct also seems to have hired Lockdown."
The High Council muttered as Nominus snarled.
"Bring Megatron in here, and reenable his comm-link!" Momus ordered, "We need to see the truth."
Megatron stood in the center of the courtroom, his hands in stasis cuffs, as Transmutate fiddled with the comm-link.
"Now, as soon as I send this test message, we'll know for certain if Megatron was the mastermind or not!" Transmutate announced, before clicking 'send'.
Jhiaxus' arm vibrated, prompting the Councilor to slam his arm on top of his comm-link.
"Jhiaxus, what was that message you just received?" Dai Atlas questioned.
"Nothing you need concern yourself with!" Jhiaxus insisted.
Dai Atlas wordlessly grabbed Jhiaxus' wrist, and yanked his arm off the comm-link to reveal the screen.
Hiya coward! Still sending lackeys in to do your murders for you?
Dai Atlas pressed a button on Jhiaxus arm, causing him to project his inbox for the whole courtroom to see.
The courtroom gave in to chaos as the implications set in:
"Jhiaxus was behind this?"
"This proves nothing!"
"But why frame Megatron instead of just assassinating him?"
"Why'd a k-con help a Functionist?"
"Order! Order!" Nominus shouted, silencing the courtroom, "Now, if you would kindly remember, you still need to vote on Megatron's verdict, after all…" He chuckled. "I get the tiebreaker vote. I'm certain my loyal Functionists know better than to betray one of their own on such circumstantial evidence. Regardless of what these bogus facts say, the alternative facts show us the alternative truth." He outright bellowed with laughter. "This changes nothing! You've not convinced a single Functionist of Megatron's innocence! I have already signed his death warrant! You! LOST!"
"Uh… He does remember that this is being broadcasted live, right?" Vibes asked.
This isn't good, Xaaron thought, If Megatron gets the guilty verdict after THAT, the already unstable political situation will devolve into full-blown civil war! If Cybertron is going to survive, we need something else to resolve this! Some way of, wait…
"HOLD IT!" Xaaron shouted.
"Oh, what now?!"
"How did the culprit even get in contact with Lockdown?" Xaaron questioned.
"… Excuse me?" Adjudicus asked.
"After Lockdown's arrest, Ultra Magnus was able to track down his hideout," Xaaron elaborated, "His hideout was a transwarp-capable fighter ship, made with metals not found on Cybertron." Xaaron slammed his hands down on the desk. "Neither my client NOR Jhiaxus has the means of contacting someone from off world!"
"… So?" Adjudicus questioned.
"Whether the mastermind was my client or Jhiaxus, they would have needed an accomplice," Xaaron stated, "Someone capable of communicating with an off-world party without getting detected by Cybertron's Security forces. Someone who nobody would ever suspect of illegally contacting alien life. Someone like Nominus Prime himself!"
The courtroom fell completely silent.
"You… You DARE?!" Nominus roared, "I am the will of Cybertron personified! It would betray everything I stand for as a Functionist to align with inferior, non-Cybertronian races! You think I would ever be that desperate?"
"Well, if I'm wrong, then I'm sure the evidence would prove your innocence," Xaaron nonchalantly stated while screaming internally.
"Heh… Heheheheheheh…" Nominus chuckled, "GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh! I'm going to enjoy watching your deluded conspiracy theory get shot down! In fact…" He turned to Ultra Magnus and the Security Officers, "Go on! Search my office! I dare you to find something incriminating! It'll be a waste of time! But once you've failed to find anything, kill Xaaron and Vibes where they stand!"
Orion Pax stood alongside Greenlight, Arcee, Hauler, Swoop, and Gauge in the gallery around the edges of the courtroom, security officers standing between them and the safety rails.
"Arcee, you know Jhiaxus better than anyone, would this be in character for him?" Orion asked.
"While I had assumed he wasn't stupid enough to pull something like this, if Nominus really is involved…" her voice trailed off as Ultra Magnus entered the room behind Nominus' podium, followed shortly after by Obsidian and Strika.
"Well?" Nominus remarked, "Why aren't you killing them?"
Ultra Magnus wordlessly walked past Nominus Prime and plugged a Data Slug into the terminal.
A holographic image depicting Nominus Prime's office, with Nominus and Jhiaxus inside, was projected into the courtroom.
"What are you doing?"
"Following your orders," Ultra Magnus stated as the holographic Nominus shuttered the windows in the projected office.
"Well done on winning the election," Nominus stated as he pressed some keys on his desk, "For far too long I've been stuck catering to the whims of the High Council. Soon, we shall streamline our government and further tighten our hold over Cybertron!"
The desk projected the image of a five-faced alien.
"Well, Nominus?"
"Just as promised, Jhiaxus has installed core overrides on every guardian," Nominus stated, "I even have the detonation codes."
"Excellent," the five-faced lifeform stated, "Transmit the codes."
"On one condition," Nominus stated, "I am tired of catering to the whims of the High Council. When you helped me kill Sentinel Prime, you said I'd have absolute power of Cybertron! So, if you kill every last one of them, sparing only Jhiaxus, so that my will may be absolute, you can have these detonation codes!"
"That shouldn't be too difficult," the five-faced lifeform replied, "Soon, we'll all have what we want."
The recording concluded, plunging the entire courtroom into silence.
"I should mention that we've detected multiple hostiles approaching Cybertron's atmosphere," Ultra Magnus continued as Jhiaxus glared at Nominus, "And we've been unable to contact the Guardian fleet."
"How… How can you even…" Nominus stammered out.
"There's one thing you forgot when you used that Shell Program to suppress my component selves," Ultra Magnus stated as he grabbed Nominus Prime's right arm and twisted it behind him, "There's a difference between obedience and loyalty. So when you dared me to find incriminating evidence, I just knew that I had to check the surveillance footage on your personal terminal, which only you and I have the clearance to check. You're under arrest, you worthless waste of metal!"
"Unhand me this instant!" Nominus ordered.
Ultra Magnus' fingers twisted away from Nominus' arm, allowing him to volt over his own podium and fold into a jet.
"Someone stop him!" Ultra Magnus shouted as Nominus activated his thrusters.
Obsidian and Strika shifted their right forearms into blasters as Nominus flew towards a window and deployed his guns.
BANG!
Nominus screamed as the ion blast took out one of his thrusters, sending him plummeting out of the air and towards the floor, forcing him to unfold into robot mode and roll across the floor to try and absorb the impact.
"Ugh…" the Prime groaned as Orion Pax awkwardly handed the smoking gun back to the security officer he had "borrowed" it from in the heat of the moment.
Obsidian and Strike jumped down to pull Nominus to his feet as Ultra Magnus approached him.
"I'll be honest," Ultra Magnus stated, "I've wanted to do this for solar cycles…" The Chief of Security then plunged his hand into the Prime's chest and ripped out the Matrix of Leadership, before tossing it aside.
"Give that back to me!" Nominus shouted.
Ultra Magnus grinned.
"Which back?" he asked as he slapped stasis cuffs onto his former superior's wrists.
Nominus screamed wordlessly as Obsidian and Strika dragged him out of the room.
"So, given what we all just witnessed," Ultra Magnus stated, "I trust that the truth and the Functionists' sense of self preservation will lead to the obvious verdict."
"N-now hold on a second!" Jhiaxus protested.
Megatron was declared Not Guilty, with a vote of 11 to 1.
Barely hushed whispers could be heard as Nominus and Jhiaxus were escorted out of the courthouse in handcuffs, the former Prime and former Councilor shoved into a transport to be taken to a holding cell where they'd await their own trials.
Those whispers were replaced with screams when a fleet of corkscrew-shaped ships descended from above forming a circle around the capital as they pierced the ground around the city. The ships released smaller fighters, which dropped Bailiffs, Prosecutors, Sharkticons, and Allicons into the city streets.
Orion Pax emerged from the courthouse, brandishing an axe with an Energon blade, followed shortly by Megatron as the Ascenticon leader reattached his Fusion Canon.
"Let's roll out!" Orion declared.
G'nur hummed to herself as she carried the box in her hands, casually skipping down the corridor as it looped through the air.
"Welp, it's high time to give Heretech exactly what he asked for!" she declared, "Oh, I can't wait! This is gonna be- What's that noise?"
Screams echoed through the corridors.
"That… I didn't…" G'nur gasped, "No… Did they find…"
The Ascenticon zipped through the corridors at faster than light speeds, finding the room that once held the dark gemstone.
"No no no no no no no…"
G'nur zipped away, covering the entire area of the Underbase, until she came to a halt in front of Thunderwing, several cables shooting out of his wrists and digging into the laser cores of the various Seekers he had brought with him, their optics dimming as the cables drained their Sparks.
But what got G'nur's attention was Thunderwing's empty, silver optics.
"It can't be…"
"But it is…" Thunderwing stated as the Seekers finally expired, their limp corpses dropping to the ground, "Soon, all our Sparks shall be united in the embrace of Unicron!" Silver light shot out of the optics of the dead Seekers, their corpses twisting and contorting as they rose to their feet. "Rejoice, spawn of Daiakuron! You can finally be whole!"
He lashed out with his cables, prompting G'nur to dematerialize to manifest at the entrance to the Underbase.
Thunderwing soared out in jet mode, followed by his Sparkless fleet of Seekers, vanishing into the shadows.
"No…" G'nur muttered as the Security officers restrained her and took the box.
A shadow fell over Cybertron, as the planet unknowingly approached its final days.
a/n: So yeah... Lots of things happened here.
Nominus Prime and Jhiaxus have been arrested, and the Quintessons have begun their assault on Cybertron.
The Functionists have unleashed an ancient evil upon the universe.
Xaaron and Vibes are literally just Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey transplanted into a Cybertronian context (credit to Convoy914 for helping me with those two). Matrix Dragon is responsible for the "this is an inappropriate time to recommend a sentence" comment.
And now for reviews:
Z-King: Yeah, that was one of my first ideas for him. If you've read A Girl and Her Bike, you'll see that I hinted at this already in Volume 1.
Next time, Quintesson invasion!